Project Create

Project Create provides accessible arts education to promote positive development in children, youth and families experiencing homelessness and poverty. “Project Create was barely holding on after the recession when I came on in 2010,” says Christie Walser, Executive Director. “At the time, we only had one staff member – and that’s it – and were at a critical point of growing or shutting down.” After their Fair Chance Praxis Partnership, Project Create went from a critical financial situation to having over $500,000 in revenue.

In 2016, Project Create joined the inaugural cohort of Fair Chance’s Impact Academy Program. During the program, Project Create created the PC E.L.I.T.E. (Energetically Lifting and Inspiring Teens to Excellence) Program – an arts-based podcast academy for high school students who are homeless and/or living in poverty, primarily in Wards 7 & 8. The program is designed to promote and nurture leadership skills, cultivate critical thinkers, produce creative work that reflect teens’ interests, and strengthen their voices to drive creative change in their communities.

Project Create’s growth is remarkable – since working with Fair Chance, Project Create now serves nine times more youth.